Chicago Bears: 7 Offseason moves to make for 2020 to return to playoffs

Salary Cap Moves

In order to make moves, the Chicago Bears need to have money. Some of their moves require them to hit free agency, either to sign other teams’ players or to sign their own players.

At the moment, the Bears have about $23.7 million in available cap space. A chunk of the savings came from Kyle Long‘s retirement. That amount will be lower when the team officially announces safety Eddie Jackson‘s four-year, $58 million extension.

Let’s move forward then. There are several cuts the Bears need to make. Here are some of them:

Cornerback Prince Amukamara

Prince Amukamara is on the wrong side of 30. He’ll be 31 when the 2020 season begins. After having 3 interceptions in 2018, he failed to record one in 2019. That was the third time in the last four seasons he failed to intercept a pass.

The Bears save $9 million by cutting Amukamara. They have Duke Shelley who I think the Bears really like and they’ll probably try to find someone to compete with him for a starting spot.

Linebacker Leonard Floyd

Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd has been a disappointment and that’s putting it mildly. He hasn’t provided the pass rush the Bears need (unless he plays against the Green Bay Packers). In his end of the season press conference, Pace spoke about how well Floyd plays the run and his coverage skills. The defense has to pressure the quarterback, especially in the NFC North, which has some good quarterbacks.

Floyd’s inability to rush the quarterback causes trouble for another linebacker, Khalil Mack. With Floyd not being able to beat one-on-ones, Mack faced double and even triple teams on a regular basis. Even with all the bodies he had to go through, Mack was among the best in pressuring the quarterback. Imagine if he didn’t have to go through a small village of bodies.

The Bears save $13.22 million by letting Floyd go.

Tight end Adam Shaheen

Adam Shaheen has been a waste of space during his time in Chicago. Between 1999-2019 there were 136 tight ends drafted in the first three rounds. Shaheen’s 26 catches rank him 111th. That’s enough to say about him.

With these cuts, the Chicago Bears save almost $23.5 million. That would put their salary cap space at just over $47.2 million, enough to go after quality free agents and to re-sign some of their own players (they have to extend wide receiver Allen Robinson quickly).

There may be one or more minor cuts that the Bears could make to clear up more space. Also, someone else might decide to restructure his contract to free up even more space. Now that they got that out of the way, let’s look at some of the areas that need improving.